Vaping is Making More Iowans Sick

At first we all thought it was healthier than smoking cigarettes, but we intuitively knew it couldn't be healthy for us. But vaping was a way of taking the tobacco out of smoking and hopefully finding an alternative way of getting our nicotine that would't cause cancer.

Now it seems that vaping is causing other respiratory health problems and more Iowans are getting sick from the effects of vaping.

CBS2 News reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there are 215 cases from 25 different states under investigation for severe respiratory illness associated with vaping.

In Iowa, there are seven cases potential cases under investigation.

Some agencies are saying it could be linked to THC use in vaping liquids, while others say it's a nicotine delivery system, so it's still too early to tell what exactly is causing the problems. There is disagreement over what the actual illness is even being called.

But all these things do lead to one truth - there's still a lot we don't know about the effects of vaping.

Another thing that need to be addressed is the marketing of these harmful products. Why are we allowing companies with products like JUUL to advertise on radio?

Come on, America...we're better than this!

As a former smoker I know how hard it was to quit cigarettes. And many use vaping as a bridge to quitting smoking. Now seems like the time to make a final break from all of it.

Freeing yourself from nicotine is the most liberating thing you can do for yourself. Tell yourself you are worth the fight and never give up giving up.